Saturday, December 20, 2014

Scientists and media are grossly misleading public on the influence of genes in human behavior

The way that practically every disease, health condition and even
behavior is blamed on "faulty genetics" these days has thwarted the way
that people process scientific information, according to a new study.
Researchers from the University of Montreal in Canada found that, when
presented with popular scientific articles on genetics and their role in
human health, many people added their own preconceived beliefs into the
findings, usually blaming everything deviant on bad genetics.

The
team, led by Alexandre Morin-Chasse, tracked 1,500 Americans who were
presented with various scientific articles on genopolitics, human
genetics and emerging research into these and other related fields.
Participants were shown articles specifically about research into a
particular gene and its effects on one of three traits: breast cancer,
political ideology (liberal or conservative) or the tendency to go into
debt.

After viewing the material, participants were asked to rate
the influence of genetics on various inherent biological traits,
including hair color and height, as well as behavioral tendencies such
as violence and alcoholism. These factors may or may not have been
included in the presented materials, but participants were still asked
to choose a percentage score between 0% to 100%, with 100% being
completely genetic, for all of them.

Based on this assessment,
the research team found that many people believed political persuasion
to have some roots in genetics, after reading an article on the subject.
Participants also tended to lump other behavioral characteristics and
orientations, including sexual orientation, into the genetic category
even though the scientific evidence they were presented with made no
such claims.

Regardless of whether or not the participants were evaluating articles that dealt specifically with cancer genetics articles covering recent findings from behavioral genetics research, the results were still the same.

"The
results indicate that both treatments inadvertently contribute to
increasing subjects' impression that genetics also influence other
orientations, skills, and behaviors that are at best loosely related to
the content of the news," wrote Morin-Chasse.

"This finding
highlights an important paradox: The dissemination of news about
behavioral genetics unintentionally induces unfounded beliefs that are
not supported by the scientific evidence presented, therefore going
against the educational purpose of science reporting."

Not surprisingly, the mainstream media's sensationalistic treatment of
many scientific articles serves one common goal: to condition the public
into believing that rising rates of autism, obesity and other modern
conditions are a result of bad genetics. In truth, many of these
conditions and more are the direct result of biotechnology (genetically
modified organisms), pharmaceuticals, vaccines, nutrition,
nanotechnology and now even synthetic biology.

If genetic changes are
responsible for a particular disease, chances are they may have been
brought about by pharmaceuticals or vaccines. Research conducted by
Howard B. Urnovitz into the relationship between vaccines and diseases like Gulf War Syndrome and cancer revealed that foreign materials injected into the body can cause genetic damage and potentially lead to permanent changes in a person's genetic memory.

"Generally,
science reporters' first goal is to inform the public about scientific
developments," added the Morin-Chasse. "However, this practice is not
disinterested; some news is purposely written in a manner intended to
catch the public's attention with startling results in order to increase
or to maintain market shares."

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